How To Save a Life
A/N at the end.
It had started just like any other day. The sun had dawned as the illuminated moon disappeared against the rolling shadows. Perhaps she should have closed the bottle after her second - or maybe third - glass of Shiraz. Serena was certainly paying for it now - her migraine was taking a heavy toll on her, even more so than usual. Mentally preparing herself for the day ahead, Serena came to the conclusion that if she liked it or not, she had to go to Holby. After all, she did consider it her personal prison - and that was at the best of times. She held her head in her hands and moaned heavily. The back of her head was burning. Leaving her plush golden bedroom, otherwise known as her personal sanctuary, Serena made the seemingly long journey across the landing and down the staircase towards the pitch black kitchen.
Fumbling around for the light socket, she cursed under her voice as she stubbed her toe on the hard surface of the wall. 'Shit!' Her exclamation echoed around the empty room. Hobbling on one foot, her hand trailed up the wall in search of the square ivory box. Eventually, she flipped the switch and the room was light by a dull glow.
Trying to cure the throbbing pain in her toe, which almost outweighed that of her head, Serena waddled from the doorframe and across the kitchen to the marble countertop, where the silhouette of her coffee machine was awaiting her arrival. Pushing down the side button to start the boiling process, Serena forced herself onto her tip toes in order to reach her favourite porcelain mug - as fair as her skin. Bringing the mug down to rest on the counter top, she waited until the 'ding' sounded around the room, like the noises resounding in her head. Clasping the handle of the coffee maker, Serena poured the boiling liquid into the mug before her.
Allowing herself a few moments of serenity, Serena rested her back against the cold countertop. Her eyes struggled to fight off the desire to fall asleep right there or on the cold hard ground below her. Suddenly she was startled by the shrill of her blackberry from her back pocket. 'Shit!' This really wasn't her day, was it? The boiling liquid came into contact with the soft material of her favourite ivory shirt. Stained. Never to be worn again. Cursing the heavens above, Serena slammed the mug down onto the counter top, no doubt chipping it in the process.
Fuming off in the direction of her utility room, Serena pealed the soaked blouse from her skin and quickly replaced it with the nearest thing; a crinkled cream blouse. Literally only out of the washing machine, and not yet ironed, Serena decided this was the best thing she was going to find and stalked out of the room.
After grabbing her endless pile of paperwork, she made her way out of the house and towards the granite driveway. Clicking the 'unlocked' button of her car keys, Serena sat herself down in the driver's seat, chucking her paperwork and bag onto the passenger seat beside her. Placing the key into the ignition - Serena felt like breaking the nearest thing to her into a million tiny pieces. Her car wouldn't start. Seriously? Could today really get any worse?
Reaching over, Serena moved to pick up her handbag, bringing it onto her lap, she rumbled through the bottomless bag in search of her blackberry. Calling a cab might be the safest option.
After eventually getting to Holby, Serena finally thought her day was slowly - but surely- starting to bright up. At least until she got out of the taxi to pay the driver and she managed to drop her new wallet into a puddle at her feet. What had she ever done to deserve this? Picking up her wallet, she examined the leather that had been soaked through from one side to the other, before fishing out whatever cash was of a presentable standard and handing it to the driver.
While attempting to put her heavy winter coat on while wiping the mud off her wallet, a chilling sound ran through her, cutting through her china doll skin like a blade, causing her to drop her wallet instantly as she froze midstep.
Bending down to scoop her wallet up in one shift move, Serena dropped the ruined accessory into her bag as she headed towards the noise. The wailing only continued to get louder, boarder-lining that of a banshee. Clearly wearing heels had been yet another bad choice today. Following the noise, she threw her bag up and onto her shoulder as she pushed herself towards the narrow alleyway towards the back of the hospital.
Her eyes landed on the bundle of cream blankets, soaked through by the surrounding puddles of water. It must of been the maternal side of her finally coming through that forced her down the narrow pathway and straight towards the crying infant. Her heart reacted quicker than her head as she forced herself to bend down and scoop the baby up into her right arm, listening as the infant's wails began to lessen almost instantly. As the pale bundle rested against her chest, as though he had been deprived of human touch for the entirety of his short life, Serena looked around the alley way desperately.
What could she do? What should she do? She was a doctor, so perhaps checking him out first would be a good starting point. Temperature. Ice cold. Bundling the blankets tighter around the young infant, she held him protectively against her chest as she made her way back out the alleyway as quickly as her heels would allow her.
Her heels echoed against the polished follow of the entrance of Holby City hospital. Completely ignoring the strange and bewildered looks she was getting, Serena made a beeline to the elevator. Trust her to arrive with a baby in her arms at rush hour... "Rena! Something you need to tell us?" The sarcasm of her american coworker did little to lighten Serena's mood. Rocking back and forth of her heels, Serena waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive as she once again checked the baby's temperature. No change. Glancing to her side as the american appeared at her hip, Serena rolled her eyes. "Stay out of this, Michael" She warned the man in a dangerously low tone as her arms wrapped protectively clasped around the infant - otherwise she would have hit the man. "Alright then, Momma sure isn't happy today" Michael chuckled as he brought his steaming coffee to his lips, taking a sip as he examined Serena and the baby for several moments until things finally became clear to him. Serena didn't have a child so young, in fact, he was well aware that she only have one teenage daughter. No one would leave Serena on babysitting duties, heck, he wouldn't even leave any of his kids with Serena let alone a baby. Though, judging by Serena's tense body language, constant rocking and her clear urgency to get into the lift, Michael would have bet his pension on that fact that there was more to this than met the eye.
"What happened?" Michael inquried as the doors of the elevator opened, revealing a steady flow of nurses, doctors and patients alike. Several others began to walk to the lift, until they spotted sight of the clearly angry and ragged up Serena Campbell and decided that if they wanted to live to see another day, then waiting on the next elevator would be a small price to pay. "I found him in the alley way" Serena announced in a soft voice as she made her way into the elevator, moving the silent infant to her left arm as she held her right hand out to press the button for the pedreatic/children's ward "What?" Michael demanded, resisting the urge to spit out his morning coffee, raising his eyebrow, the man turned to look at his companion as the elevator doors shut. Looking back down at the infant once more, Serena felt her skin grow cold at the idea of someone abandoning him there, and from the signs of it, he had been there a while before she found him - perhaps even all night. Deciding to push that thought to the back of her mind, Serena pushed the sides of the thin blankets away in order to get a better look at the boy. His skin was pale, almost porcelain like her own, but his eyes were what caught her attention first. Sea blue. Those eyes would no doubt one day be the downfall of a hundred girls, the thing that would make them all weak in the knees, the thing that may already have resulted in her being wrapped around his little finger. Tilting the baby upwards, she examined his curled up fist that he held against his cheek, as though trying to seek the warmth from it. Slipping her middle finger into his curled up fist, she shut her eyes at his weak grip. "I don't know how long he was out there for, but by the looks of it..." Serena pulled her attention away from the baby and towards Michael as the elevator finally, after what had felt like a lifetime and a half, reached its destination.
For once in her life, not that she would admit it, Serena was thankful for the fact that Michael was around. With a gentle hand on her back, the man guided her from the lift and straight down the hallway towards the children's ward, while he looked ready to do battle and ignored all the confused and curious looks and whispers from the nurses: Serena was preoccupied by the baby in her arms. His breathing was starting to level out, and the redness on his face from crying so hard had finally disappeared, and it seemed sleep was finally coming over him.
Henrik Hanssen had been doing his daily rounds of the hospital, having started on the top floor as per usual and was just finishing up on the children's ward whenever the elevator doors opened and the nurses seemed to dip into whispered conversation in a hurried manner. Deciding to find out about whatever event had grasped the short attention span of the hospital's nurses, Henrik looked up from his place at the front desk where he had been reading several patient files. Serena Campbell, he should have known. Although, his expression changed quickly whenever she turned to face him, looking straight past him as though she was in search of something, or rather, someone. He almost didn't notice the bundle in her arms. The array of thin cotton blankets held protectively against the left side of her chest, with only a small fist left uncovered, reaching up above the blankets, the only sign that Henrik wasn't imagining things. Right on Serena's heels was Michael Spence. The hospital's notorious ladies man. The sight of the man's hand on Serena's back sent a chill of envy through his veins. Serena and himself had became close in recent times, he would silently refer to her as his nearest co-worker, but these feelings were...well, something more. By the time he arrived next to the pair, Serena and Michael once again had their back turned. "Ms. Campbell, Mister Spence, you don't have an announcement to make, would you?..." Henrik began in his usual monotonous tone as he decided to channel his envy and jealous in their direction. However, the look on Serena's face instantly made him stop. Never had he seen the woman look so worried, even fearful, not when her mother had came in for a stroke, nor when her daughter had arrived at the hospital. This was different...and not in a good way.
The usual confident, rules with an iron fist, takes no prisoners persona was gone. "Walk and talk at the same time, Ms. Campbell" Henrik started as he stepped around the pair and headed in the direction he had seen several of the doctor's walking in earlier. "I found him in the alley way, I'm not sure how long he was out there, all night by the looks of it" Serena announced to the man as she struggled to keep up with his giant paces, she guessed being so tall had its perks after all. Michael remained a few paces behind the other two, having called a nurse over to go and page one of the doctors and too inform the others that at least Serena, if not himself, would be delayed.
Arriving at one of the side rooms, Serena looked up as she watched Hanssen close the curtains around them. "I feel some privacy is needed" He announced, making Serena finally aware of the gaping looks coming her way before the curtain shielded her from the nurses' sights. "Thank you for that" Serena replied softly as she walked towards the cradle, gently placing the bundle inside as she began to unwrap him from his blankets as Hanssen stood awkwardly to the side, clearly feeling uncomfortable. "If you asked me, I would say you've never seen a baby before" Perhaps those rumors of him being a modern day Dracula were true? Glancing up at the man, she watched as he lifted his gaze from the gentle rising and falling of the baby's chest and onto her. "Something like that" He muttered, clearly perplexed by the scene in front of him as they waited for the doctor to arrive.
This is the first time I've ever published any of my fanfiction, as truthfully I'm more of a RP kind of girl. I've also never written anything for Holby City or any of the characters so please excuse me if the characters are really out of character. I do have this planned out for several chapters and I am hoping to have a chapter up every day or two, but I really need to build my confidence with my writing, and this idea, up first. If you couldn't already guess, this will eventually be a Henrik/Serena fanfiction, when that might be though, I haven't exactly figured out. If you're interested in seeing what the OC looks like, this gif set on my tumblr page is pretty much how I imagine him to look like;
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I hope this was at least satisfactory and wasn't too bad for a first post. Please, don't forget about the little review box, it would be much appreciated, and I would also love to hear any and all ideas that you might have for this plot.